Green Shirt Day is going to look a little different this year.
The annual day of events aims to raise awareness about organ donation and encourage more people to register as donors. Held in honour of Humboldt Broncos bus crash victim Logan Boulet, it’s set for April 7.
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that this year’s Green Shirt Day is going to mostly be an online campaign.
But Boulet’s father, Toby, is still hoping to see massive participation.
“What I’d really like to see is people going on whatever social media they like to use, whether it be Twitter or Instagram or Facebook or Tik-Tok, whatever people like to use,” Boulet said. “Just go on there and make a post and take a picture of yourself in a green shirt. It doesn’t have to be a Green Shirt Day shirt, just wear green and register (for organ donation), talk to your family and be inspired.
“Just do something positive for this campaign. This campaign has never been about money … The whole campaign is about awareness.
Prior to the 2018 bus crash that killed Logan Boulet and 15 of his Broncos teammates and support staff, he had spoken to his parents about wanting to be an organ donor. Because of that, his organs went to six other people who were awaiting transplants.
That inspired “The Logan Boulet Effect,” and more than 100,000 Canadians became organ donors in the days and weeks that followed.
The Boulets then started Green Shirt Day, which goes every April 7. The City of Humboldt has declared that day to be Green Shirt Day and encourages all citizens to wear green. Canadians across the country are asked to join in, too.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on organ and tissue transplants, though. All non-essential surgeries are paused, while urgent and life-saving organ donation and transplantation is being decided on a case-by-case basis.
“Organ transplant recipients are, or are likely to become immuno-compromised and may be at increased risks of more severe outcomes related to COVID-19,” a press release from Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Society of Transplantation said. “As a result, the decision to proceed with donation and transplantation must balance the risk the virus poses to potential recipients with the risk of delaying transplantation.”
All of that makes Green Shirt Day’s goal of raising awareness about the importance of organ donation even more resonant.
People may not be able to gather in groups, but they can still put on any green shirt and help spread awareness. They can still register to become organ donors, as well.
“It’s important that we take the time — now that we have it — to register online,” Boulet said. “You might as well register because you don’t know what you’re going to need in five years, so now is the perfect time to register and talk with your family and be inspired.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
